Summer Draws to a Close

This morning I head back to work, and I find that another busy fall season is about to begin. Summer is often a slow time of the year for me, as this summer has been. Now I have to get confirmation class rolling again; other church programs are also cranking back up to speed. A week from Sunday is Missionfest, with a special celebration of the 125th anniversary of St. John's, and our big Missionfest dinner. Then come five weddings between now and mid-October. And, of course, our main St. John's 125th anniversary celebration with three worship services the weekend of October 1-2.

I repeat, another busy fall season is about to begin.

Today I'm mostly going to be catching up on paperwork; sorting through two weeks of mail; writing a newsletter article; writing up a couple of other items; getting a head start on next Sunday; catching up with several people by e-mail or by phone; possibly running in to town to take care of a couple of items.

I have this evening free, and I intend to set up a new rain gauge, the third one I've had to put up this season. Got back from vacation to find that the last one (like the one before it) had been run over and crunched. Oh, well. This rain gauge is going to have white wire fencing around it, with two plastic birds-on-a-wire to stand guard. :-)

Having spent much of my life in either an academic setting or an ecclesiastical setting, I've become very much accustomed to the rhythm of summertime slower, the rest of the year faster. According to my calendration, summer runs from the beginning of June through the end of August, or from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. More or less. Whatever. God sometimes works through the rhythms and cycles of our life, and I find myself serving God by shifting gear up or down, and adjusting to the rhythms and cycles of the year.